Shadow of fate
by thefanboy1928
Summary: When Noxus's high command is taken over in a coup, Swain leads those loyal to Noxus to safety. As he plans to remove Noxus of it's occupants, two assasins must suffer through hardship to find what they truly desire in life and take it.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here is my first fanfic. Any criticisms are welcome. In this story, I have imagined Talon in his dragonblade skin, as I hate the way talon looks in his classic skin ;D **

Chapter 1

The man stumbled as he tripped over his own feet. Gasping for air, he scrambled to his feet and ducked into an alleyway. He laid there, his heart beating in his chest as he heard footsteps advancing slowly down the street he just was. Offering a prayer to whoever could help him, the man stayed completely still as the footsteps stopped next to the alley. He tensed up for about 5 minutes until the footsteps went away in the opposite direction. The man sighed with relief and revealed himself from his hiding place. As he turned to sneak away, he felt something cold on his neck, then stifled a cry as he felt the figure press himself against his back, his blade at the mans throat.

"Karkoua Meraktia, I know you have been selling classified Noxian information. Speak now if you want to live."

"Wh-what do you want to know?" Karkoua asked.

"Who did you sell them too?"

"S-some woman, she paid handsomely, I could g-give you some of it, n-no, all of it, just don't kill me!"

"Who was the Woman?"

"I d-don't know. She met me in the slums, stayed in the shadows. Asked me to bring her the documents. I complied, I c-couldn't refuse, she would have k-killed me"

"Where in the slums?"

"Down the alley n-next to the entrance to the market. P-please believe me! I am telling the truth!"

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"Now I have no use for you."

"N-NO! PLEASE, I SAID, YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE-" Karkoua was cut off as the mans blade whipped itself through his neck, killing him. The man, kept hold of Karkoua, and dragged the body to the nearest gutter, throwing him in.

"You betray Noxus, and you've already signed your death warrant." He spoke allowed, as if the corpse could hear him. Turning his back to the gutter, Talon Du Couteau made his way towards the slums.

* * *

Another body fell to the ground, a knife sticking out of it's back as Talon made his way into the heart of the Slums. Four people had tried to rob him while he made his journey, and each had met the same fate. When he reached the alleyway, Talon stuck to the shadows as he scouted the area. He counted 5 men who seemed to be patrolling the area. He snuck up on the first guard and stabbed him in his back, pulling him into the shadows before anyone saw. He advance on the next guard as he started patrolling the area in front of him. As he snuck up on him, the guard appeared to complete his patrol as he turned around to inspect behind him. Seeing Talon, the guard gasped in shock, before a throwing knife imbedded itself in his skull.

Cursing himself for being careless, Talon advanced, and took out another guard who was cleaning his sword, before Talon slit his throat with his arm-blade. The last two guards were kicking a downed man, who was curled up in a ball as they landed blow after blow onto him. Reminded of his old life, Talon felt anger surge through him. He through his final throwing knife, which landed into one of the guards head and launched himself at the other, his arm-blade passing clean through his back. Talon wrenched it out, and cleaned it on the dead guard's shirt.

With the guards dead, Talon inspected the whole area. The people who lived in the slums appeared to stay away from this area, as it was completely deserted apart from the 5 dead guards, and the unconscious man. There appeared to be no reason why they were patrolling the area. He was about to leave the area, when a wall on the other side of the area started to slide sideways. Talon leaped into the shadows as 10 people went through the hole, and alarm went through them as they saw 2 dead guards. While they fanned out to find the person responsible, Talon had already disappeared into the night.

* * *

The Noxian high command loomed over Talon as the gates opened for him. As he entered, Talon could smell the deceit and treachery that was a part of Noxian politics. Talon headed straight for the top of the building, where the Grand General was. He reached the door to his office, knocked twice, and entered. The door opened to Swain with his Raven, Beatrice, studying a map of Valoran, several markers placed strategicly across it. In the shadows, Darius, the hand of Noxus, stood, his eyes inspecting Talon for any sign that he is a danger to his General.

"Well?" Swain asked, his eyes never leaving the map. He knew that Talon would have never returned unless he had completed his mission.

"The target met with a woman in the slums of Noxus, she bought the papers off him. He never saw her face. I inspected the area and found 5 men guarding the area where he handed over the papers. There was also a hidden door in the area, where more guards emerged from.

"Did you investigate inside the door?" Swain asked

"No, there were too many of them, I returned here."

"We still have no idea who this is."

"Sir, I will send a detachment from the army to investigate the area fully." Darius stated

"Do you have an idea who is could be behind this Swain?" Talon asked, causing Swain's head to jerk up and look at him. Darius stepped out of the Shadows, glaring at him. Talon would never refer to Swain as Grand General, he only respected General Du Couteau and only took orders from him. He hadn't helped Swain because he was the Grand General, but to help Noxus.

"We don't have any other leads as of yet, these documents need to be found." Swain said, giving Talon a sharp look.

"So, do you want me to do anything else?" Talon asked. "Or can I go back to what needs to be done?"

"General Du Couteau is gone Talon." Swain said. "You are wasting your time. You will never find him." Talon turned his back on Swain and walked out his office.

"Will he be trouble?" Darius asked.

"I hope not Darius." Swain answered. "We need him."

**Well thanks for reading. Once again, your criticism will be greatly loved :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

To a passer-by, the Du Couteau household appeared to be completely deserted. There was foliage growing from the brickwork and most of the windows were shattered. Said passer-by would then begin to wonder if the house contained any valuables. After all, it had been the home of one of the wealthiest Generals in Noxus, and now that he had disappeared, maybe something valuable had been left behind when his daughters had joined the League of Legends. He would check no-one was looking, then quickly hop the fence and get closer to the house. What happened next differed. Either the intruder fell backwards, a throwing knife lodged into his body, or he was torn apart by an expertly placed blade through his abdomen. Then, either Talon Du Couteau or Katarina Du Couteau would take the body and throw it onto the streets, it not deserving any other treatment.

Round the far end of the building, there was an open field, where Talon and Katrina would go to train in the only way they knew how. Fight each other in single combat. Katarina span round Talon, a knife seemingly ejecting itself from her as it narrowly missed Talons throat as he sidestepped and drove himself forward, his blade aimed at her stomach. Katarina parried with another knife, and stabbed at Talon with her other hand. Talon grabbed her arm with his free hand, and brought his blade towards Katarina's head. She quickly flipped backwards, her boot kicking Talon's hand off her arm, and threw three knives from distance. Talon ducked under the first one, knocked the second away and caught the third in his spare hand. Katarina didn't relent and suddenly appeared behind Talon, using the art of shunpo that her father had taught her. Talon spun round, his blade and Katarina's knife ready and blocked both of Katarina's swipes. They stood there, blades locked, and pressed each other's weight against themselves, trying to be the one who broke the lock. Talon felt Katarina buckle as he pressed onto her, so he broke the lock by rolling round her to deliver a blow to her side that Katarina had to roll backwards to dodge, leaving her wide open. As Katarina finished her roll, she look up to see Talons body hurling towards her, his blade outstretched. Katarina swung her knife upwards to parry, but it was knocked out of her hands by Talon throwing her previous knife at it, and she found herself on the floor, with Talons blade at her throat.

"Give up yet?" Talon asked, glaring into her eyes as he leaned over her, preparing to finish her.

"I guess so." Katarina sighed and Talon removed his blade from her throat. Katarina quickly shunpoed behind talon, her final knife ready to strike, however talon span round, sticking his foot out as it caught Katarina in her stomach. She fell back again, and Talon approached her once more.

"You finished yet?" Talon asked, a rare smile on his lips. Katarina was about to retort, when she stopped. She had heard a noise by the gates at the front of the house. Talon lifted his head, indicating that he had heard it too.

"Another Slum-dog, here to loot the house." Katarina said, harshness gripping into her voice.

"Well," Talon said, throwing her a knife, "You lost, it's your turn." Katarina sighed, and lifted herself to her feet, not bothering to ask Talon for help. She moved to the shadows that the house offered, and creped to the front. Her hand rested on her knife as she peered to see who was trespassing. She saw an old man wondering towards the house. Disappointed at the lack of opposition, Katarina stalked her prey, waiting until he seemed comfortable that he was safe, then she struck. The knife went hurtling through the air, directly towards the man's skull. However, just before it hit him, there was a flash of steel as the blade bounce of a scimitar that the man had drawn to protect himself. Launching herself at the man, Katarina caught her knife in mid air and shunpoed behind the old man, preparing to finish him. With lightning reflexes, the man span round, his blade smashing her knife from her grip and was aimed at her throat. Katarina was jaw-struck. How had he moved so fast? And yet there was something similar about the way he wielded the blade... and the blade itself.

"You have learned much Katarina, but not enough. Not yet."

"Farther?" Katarina asked, feeling joy for the first time in months.

* * *

Swain gave out a sigh as he looked through the reports that Darius had given him. The hideout in the slums had been fully investigated that morning by Darius and 50 of his men and nothing of interest had been found. It was deserted, bar a few guards who had quickly surrendered after Darius had decapitated the first one with one swing of his axe. There was no trace of the documents or the Woman who had purchased them.

Swain rubbed his head, there was a meeting with the Noxian high command council that afternoon to discuss matters, and there was no way that the thievery of Noxus's plans of defence would be overlooked. He really didn't want this to go public. Even though the whole council had supported him becoming Grand General after he had defeated Keiran Darkwill in single combat, he knew that they had only supported him to avoid Darius from removing their heads from their bodies. If the high command moved against him due to this, Swain didn't know if he could hold on to power.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, making Swain jump, as Darius entered his office. Swain sighed inwards, he was becoming a bundle of nerves as of late. "Sir, my investigation of how Meraktia managed to get his hands on the defence plans is complete."

"And?" Swain asked.

"From what I can tell, he has had inside help." Swain tilted his head, this was something new.

"How can you tell?"

"While I don't like to underestimate our enemies, Meraktia appears to be too incompetent to have been able to do this. He had no authorised access to our offices and I doubt he would have even known where to find it. So, I took the liberty of..."

"Interrogating the suspects until you got a confession." Swain concluded, knowing what Darius would do.

"Indeed sir, out of the 34 people I suspected, three have confessed to helping Meraktia get the information. Two guards allowed him to enter the offices and one of our clerks gave him the documents."

"Do we know why they helped him?"

"Apparently all three of them were paid 2 days before the event, with instructions to help Meraktia."

"I see, good work Darius." Swain said, when he suddenly had an idea. "Is your brother free today?"

"Yes sir, I assume you would like these traitors executed?"

"Of course. Make it a public event and bring out any other prisoners awaiting execution."

"Certainly sir." Darius replied, exiting the office to speak with the guard captain.

'Time for some good old Noxian entertainment' Swain thought, heading out of the offices as well.

* * *

Marcus Du Couteau and Talon travelled towards the Noxian high command, talking in whispers so no-one could hear what they were discussing. After Katarina had finished interrogating her father as where he had been, Marcus had asked Talon to accompany him to Noxus high command to speak to the grand general while Katarina communicated with a summoner to send Cassiopia, her sister, to Noxus. As they walked, Talon spoke up, "Sir, may I ask where you have been?"

"You can ask Talon, but I fear my answer won't be satisfactory.

"Any answer will be satisfying, sir."

"I owe you that much, Talon." Markus said, obviously troubled. "I have been, "infiltrating", as they would say, a certain organization."

"Why didn't you tell me sir?" Talon asked. For some reason, pain was seething through his body. He found it hard to identify why, until he realised. He was ... troubled. It seemed that the general hadn't told him where he was going for a reason. Maybe he didn't trust him?

"You will probably hate me for saying this Talon." Marcus said, with a sigh. "I wanted to keep you and my daughters safe."

"With all respect sir, we didn't need to be kept safe."

"I know that Talon. But, this organization, it's different, they are extremely dangerous. I was not prepared to put you, or them, in danger.

"Who are they?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the Grand General."

When they arrived, Talon was informed by a new clerk that Swain was at the arena, watching some executions. After arriving , Talon and Markus made there way to the upper stands, where the Grand General would sit. As they entered, Talon hered a cheer from the crowed. Looking down, Talon saw a moustached man with 2 axes running across the arena. There were 5 people running for their life, the door to the street was open and they had a shot at freedom. The man was Draven, brother of Darius and famous for his executions. As they made their way to where Swain was waiting, Talon heard a scream as Draven took his first victim, an axe imbedded in his back. As if this gave him strength, he surged forwards, grabbing the axe and throwing both of them. Two other screams followed the first as the executions continued. Darius suddenly appeared, blocking Talon's path to Swain. "What do you want Talon?" He asked, looking irritated.

"I need to talk to Swain, Darius." Marcus said, from behind Talon. Darius looked to him, and seemed to freeze in place.

"General Du Couteau?" He asked.

"The same."

"Pass, quickly." Darius said, as he let them through. Markus took the lead and led himself towards Swain. Swain turned to see who had entered, and his eyes widened as he saw Marcus.

"Du Couteau, is that you?"

"Yes, Grand General."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I was asked two years ago to join a certain organisation. I joined, and now I am back. I am here to report on them and there behaviour."

"What organisation?"

"The black rose."


	3. Chapter 3

**Introducing an OC in this chapter, just felt like adding one in :D Sorry for the long wait, had a bit of writers block.**

Swain's office was crowded as the meeting began. Marcus had insisted that they finish watching the entertainment and discuss what he had been through when they returned to Swain's office. Darius was once again half hidden in the shadows, watching over his master. Talon and Markus stood opposite Swain. Swain was slouched in his chair, rubbing his temples with his right hand while stroking Beatrice with his left. As she nuzzled his hand, faint magical energy flowed between the two, further increasing the link that the two contained. "Swain?" a voice asked and Swain's head jerked up, the sensation of the bond between him and his bird always seemed to lull Swain.

"I am listening." Swain said.

"As I was saying," said Marcus, "I was contacted by the Black Rose 2 years ago. A letter arrived at the household asking me to join their organisation. It detailed what they were doing and why they felt I should join them. The letter stated that if I didn't respond to them within a week, me and my family would die. Obviously, I wasn't afraid, but curious. They would threaten to kill me? They must have a lot of faith in their abilities. I decided that I should accept their offer and see who they were and what they were doing. I did not tell anyone as I wanted to keep them safe, these people seemed dangerous. Anyway, when I arrived at the designated located, I met a woman. She is in charge of the Black Rose."

"Who is this woman?" Darius asked.

"Her name is Leblanc." Markus answered, causing a wave of recognition to sweep across Swain's face. "I see you know of her Swain."

"Yes. I do."

"How do you know about her sir?" Darius asked.

"Before I became the Grand General, I was contacted by Leblanc. I knew about the Black Rose then, and she told me that they wanted me to succeed Darkwill. However, when I became Grand General they seemingly disappeared." Swain turned to Marcus. "What was she like?"

"A very cold woman."

"And she's back..." Swain trembled as he reached under the table to find Beatrice, and she rubbed herself against his hand, the energy flowing through him and strengthening his resolve. "Talon." He said suddenly. Talon looked towards him. He had spent the entire meeting slouched against the wall, studying General Du Couteau.

"What?" he asked, his disrespect heavy in his voice.

"Noxus asks a favour from you and Katarina." Swain said. "You must find Leblanc, and kill her. She is a threat to Noxus, especially with the stolen documents."

"Consider her dead."

"Good, you may leave."

* * *

"You must not be cocky Talon. Leblanc is a formidable adversary with power that rivals even Swain's." Talon glanced at Marcus as they approached the Du Couteau household. He had definitely aged in the two years since he had last seen him. There were more grey hairs sprinkled across his black hair and more wrinkles were plastered across his face. Talon opened his mouth to reply, when he was cut off by a shout from across the lawn.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Marcus jumped with surprise as his head snapped to the voice. His eyes followed to see a snake like creature advancing towards him. His mouth transformed into a smile as he recognised who it was.

"Hello Cassiopeia." Marcus said. "It has been too long."

"DAMN RIGHT IT HAS!" She screamed, a hissing noise enwrapping her speech. "WHERE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"Come inside Cass, I'll tell you everything." As he led here inside, Katarina put a hand on Talon's shoulder, pushing him after them. When they were inside, Talon turned around and stopped Katarina from progressing.

"Katarina, Swain has a mission for us."

"What is it?"

"We are required to eliminate the head of an organization called the 'Black Rose'. The leader is called Leblanc; she is supposedly a powerful adversary."

"Well, let's not waste any time, where do we start?"

"From what I have been able to gather, the Black Rose has members infiltrated into the Noxian high command, either as soldiers or even maybe council members themselves."

"Who do you suspect?"

"Well, Swain was once a member of the Black Rose before he became the Grand General. If we can identify who he was in contact with during that time period, we might find a lead."

"So, you have it planned out, as usual."

"Of course I have." Talon said. "Now, we should get going."

"Wait," said a voice behind them. They turned to see Marcus watching them. "Later today, I will be at the Noxian high command for the council meeting. Make sure you are there, you may be called upon." Nodding their understanding, Talon and Kat left the household, once again heading to the Noxian high command.

* * *

Kelik Rirturing stood to attention as Darius inspected his squad. Nodding with approval, he moved on to the next and his entire unit breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to annoy Darius, his reputation was legendary. Kelik looked over his six men and three women that made up his squad, pride swelling through his veins. They were the best of the best, the Crimson Elite. There unit was set up by Swain during the Ionian war as his personal bodyguard and front-line unit. After the war, they retained as being Swain's guard, until he became the Grand General and the Crimson Elite were elevated to the command squad if the military. Their past members included legendary assassins such as Katarina and Talon, but also shameful traitors such as Riven, who had one into exile during the Ionian war. His thoughts were shook from his mind as Darius returned, and dismissed them. They marched back to the Barracks and deposited there ceremonial armour at their dorms. They changed into more practical gear and made they met up outside the barracks. "Is everyone ready and kitted out?" Kelik asked.

"Yes sir." one of the women, Mogne replied.

"Ok, today we are on Guard duty during the council meeting. The Grand General requires a show of strength during the meeting, to keep the treacherous politicians from trying something." The whole squad sighed inwardly; they hated this kind of duty. They hated being paraded about by Swain during these meetings. "Remember; don't be too hard on the members of the council. We are officially there on security business, so don't threaten the people we are supposed to be protecting."

"Who are we expecting to be there?" Asked another of the unit, Tulkon.

"All nine members of the council are expected, as well as their own security. Keep an eye on them."

"Anything else sir?" Asked another man, Dalgash.

"Yes, the Grand General is the priority. In the unlikely event of an attack, protect him at all costs." Kelik waited for any other questions. None came. "Right, let's move out."

* * *

"Sir." Darius stated, entering through Swain's office door. Swain looked up. "Dr Xavier Rath and Singed have arrived."

"Let them in." Swain leaned back in his chair as he thought about what was about to happen. Xavier was an infamous doctor from Zaun that was famous for his dark experiments. He had brought Singed with him, a chemical genius who had almost won the war against Ionia with his chemical weapons. They were most likely here to discuss future relations between Noxus and Zaun. The two cities had always a friendly relationship; Noxus was all but keen to let the mad geniuses that came from Zaun to conduct their experiments in Noxus. One such example was Doctor Mundo, who the Noxus had gifted a laboratory in Noxus to help him with his goal of creating a super soldier for the battlefield.

The door opened and Xavier entered. His pale skin was shrivelled, caused by abuse of "Shimmer," and was wrapped up in a robe. Most of his body was encased in this robe, making it difficult to make out his shape. He was dwarfed by Singed, who entered next to him. Singed was wearing dark red armour, with bandages obscuring most of his face. His hair was almost non-existent, having been burned out in a failed experiment. Swain stood up to greet these men, firmly gripping Xavier's hand as they shook. "Gentlemen." Swain said, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Grand General, it is an honour." Xavier said, bowing before him. "We are here today to ask a favour from Noxus, one which could help Noxus massively.

"I'm listening." Swain said with an inward sigh. He already knew what his answer would be. He hated people like Xavier, trying to suck up to him to win a favour.

"Well, as you know Zaun has a very relaxed set of rules when it comes to experimentation. However, even they don't like what we are doing. We are asking that we set up a laboratory in the Noxus slums. We believe that we are on the edge of creating a new breed of chemical warfare, and we humbly ask that we are able to experiment on the slum dwelle..."

"No." interrupted Swain, his voice cold.

"What?"

"You are not experimenting on Noxus citizens."

"Citizens? I am talking about the slum dogs. What use are they to you?"

"Watch your tongue, Xavier." Swain said. "Times are changing. Noxus's power no longer comes from family names. It comes from strength, and every man and woman who lives in the Noxus slums has more strength running through their veins then you could ever hope to have. Now get out."

"B-but."

"Out!" Swain shouted. Xavier started to raise an argument, but it died in his throat. He turned around and stormed out the office. Singed turned to Swain and spoke for the first time.

"You missed out there Swain." Without another word, he left Swain's office.

**Next chapter is when it gets real :D**


End file.
